Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2023 Update
The latest IRS data shows that the U.S. federal individual income tax continued to be progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners.
43 min read
Featured Articles
What’s Missing from the Tax Burden Debate
When we discuss tax policy, the conversation inevitably turns to who pays, who should pay, and how much they should pay. Unfortunately, the tax burdens debate is often missing a key point: how income transfer programs—like Social Security or Medicaid—affect households’ tax burdens.
State and Local Tax Burdens, Calendar Year 2022
Tax burdens rose across the country as pandemic-era economic changes caused taxable income, activities, and property values to rise faster than net national product. Tax burdens in 2020, 2021, and 2022 are all higher than in any other year since 1978.
24 min readAll Related Articles
Broad-Based Taxes on Consumption and User Fees Are Efficient Ways to Raise Federal Revenue for Infrastructure
Rather than relying on damaging corporate tax hikes, policymakers should consider user fees and consumption taxes as options for financing new infrastructure to ensure that a compromise does not end up being a net negative for the U.S. economy.
2 min read
Taxing Consumption Progressively Is a Better Way to Tax the Wealthy
Policymakers concerned about the current tax treatment of unrealized capital gains would be better off exploring policy solutions like consumption taxes rather than tried-and-failed strategies.
5 min read
Joint Committee on Taxation Data Shows Federal Tax System Is Progressive
New Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) data indicates that the federal tax system is progressive, consistent with similar analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the OECD.
2 min read
Top Personal Income Tax Rates in Europe, 2021
Most countries’ personal income taxes have a progressive structure, meaning that the tax rate paid by individuals increases as they earn higher wages. The highest tax rate individuals pay differs significantly across Europe, with Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent), and Austria (55 percent) having the highest top statutory personal income tax rates among European OECD countries.
3 min read
Reviewing Options to Raise Tax Revenue and the Trade-offs for Economic Growth and Progressivity
There’s a useful contrast between two revenue options related to President Biden’s infrastructure push. The president’s American Jobs Plan includes a proposal to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent. Meanwhile, historically, the gas tax is the main revenue source for transportation funding.
8 min read
Tax Policy in the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration
In his first 100 days as president, Joe Biden has proposed more than a dozen significant changes to the U.S. tax code that would raise upwards of $3 trillion in revenue and reduce incentives to invest, save, and work in the United States.
4 min read
Common Tax Questions, Answered
Get answers to some of the tax policy questions we hear most often from taxpayers, businesses, and journalists. Learn everything from the basics of who pays taxes and the difference between credits and deductions, to how taxes impact the economy and what constitutes sound tax policy. Discover additional resources to explore each question and topic in more depth.
IMF Tax Proposals: Shrink Inequality or Sink Post-Pandemic Recovery?
To help countries face the pandemic-related financing needs while reducing inequality, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a series of policy recommendations based on a temporary COVID-19 tax, levied on high incomes or wealth.
4 min read
Congressional Budget Office and Tax Foundation Modeling Show That Some Tax Hikes Are More Damaging Than Others
Some tax hikes are more damaging than others, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and new Tax Foundation economic modeling.
5 min read
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax Legislation Faces Administrative and Economic Challenges
The international experience with wealth taxes should serve as a warning to the U.S. A wealth tax would reduce the size of the economy, shrink national income, and significantly distort international capital flows.
4 min read
Changes to the Tax Base Matter When Evaluating the Impact of Tax Reforms
A new study illustrates how overlooking an important element of the tax system—the structure of the tax base—can lead to an incomplete understanding of how tax reform impacts the economy.
4 min read
A $6 Billion Tax Increase Proposal in Pennsylvania Would Yield the Nation’s Highest Combined Flat-Rate Income Taxes
Under the budget introduced by Gov. Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania’s flat personal income tax rate would increase by 46 percent, partially offset by an outsized increase in the poverty credit, which would see a family of four eligible for partial relief due to poverty until they reached $100,000 in taxable income—four times the poverty line.
6 min read
Join Us for a Free “State Tax Policy Boot Camp”
The Tax Foundation’s “State Tax Policy Boot Camp,” is ideal for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of state taxation.
2 min read
Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2021 Update
The latest IRS data shows that the U.S. federal individual income tax continued to be progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners.
8 min read
Washington State Floats a Wealth Tax Which Relies Almost Exclusively on Four People
What happens if you create a tax and its base is, for all intents and purposes, four people? If some Washington lawmakers had their way, we might find out.
5 min readLatest CBO Report on Incomes and Taxes Shows that the Federal Fiscal System is Very Progressive
Joe Biden has proposed an ambitious agenda that would make the federal fiscal system more progressive, and the huge budget deficits caused by the numerous COVID-19 relief packages could heighten the call for more tax revenues. What is needed are benchmark facts to guide these debates.
13 min read
Taxes and New York’s Fiscal Crisis: Evaluating Revenue Proposals to Close the State’s Budget Gap
Our new study provides a 360-degree assessment of New York’s budget crisis, analyzes proposed revenue options, and offers solutions to raise revenue without driving more taxpayers out of the state or undoing recent positive reforms
106 min read
Prospects for Federal Tax Policy After the 2020 Election
President Biden and Congress should concentrate on areas of common ground, finding incremental places to improve the tax code. A bipartisan bill recently introduced to help retirement savings is a good model for what incremental reform may look like.
4 min read
The Unintended Consequences of Higher Corporate Taxes on Income Inequality
Increasing the corporate tax rate is often offered as a solution to income inequality because higher-income individuals tend to own more corporate shares than others and may bear the burden of a tax increase on corporate income.
4 min read
Placing Joe Biden’s Tax Increases in Historical Context
If we consider Biden’s tax plan over the entire budget window (2021 to 2030) as a percentage of GDP—1.30 percent—it would rank as the 6th largest tax increase since the 1940s and and one of the largest tax increases not associated with wartime funding.
6 min read